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February 19, 2016

A little update on Piri + the weekend

Yesterday morning, we had a great consultation session at Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery inside the Life Centre in Leesburg, VA. Our primary vet referred us to them, but also gave us the option of doing the surgery with her. On the onset I was a little unsure about going there and leaned on having our primary vet perform the surgery on Piri.

My biggest concern was that the specialist doesn't know Piri like our primary vet does -- his quirks and most importantly, his medical history. I wasn't sure if the specialist would take in all the information they needed on his heart and kidneys or if there was going to be some balls dropped here and there and complicate things. This is my biggest nightmare -- when balls get dropped and miscommunication happens between different parties and/or doctors are just too proud to take direction/advice from other practices to make a better, more informed decision.

I guess you can say that I have had a bad experience with miscommunication. It was in 2011 after complications with Piri's neuter surgery and terrible miscommunication and no communication at all between our previous vet and the emergency clinic. It was frustrating for me especially when I had to witness finger pointing, have the doctor at the emergency clinic talk with us with cold eyes all the while seeing Piri look so lifeless.

But yesterday I was completely blown away by their impeccable attention to detail, competence, their efficient process and warmness {which is so important for me}. And they made it known to us that they have already formed a clear line of communication with our primary vet and also Piri's cardiologist to get all up to date information on him to make sure he has a successful surgery. Every minute about the consultation was about Piri and his well being. There was strong emphasis on working as a team of doctors and specialists and communicating with them and also us. On the day of the surgery alone, they will call us three times to let us know how Piri is doing. Wow.

I haven't felt this confident in a while. We have literally been vet hopping since moving to the DMV area in 2010. We loved our vet in Rego Park, NY and we just haven't found the same kind of practice until we were referred to Town and Country Animal Hospital from our friends and began seeing our current primary vet. She has now referred us to two really great specialists and we are just really incredibly happy of the outcome. Yes, we're still nervous about Piri going under, it is still very risky - but we are very hopeful and certain that he was in the right hands.

Piri's oral surgery is set for March 2. It can be as quick as a removal of his lump and possibly two teeth to something longer that includes examination of all his teeth and also deep cleaning. It all depends on how he is doing with under anesthesia.

We also scheduled his surgery so that there will be another attending doctor who specializes in internal medicine to oversee Piri. That was an option given to us by the specialist and we are grateful for the extra eyes and safety.

It's going to feel like a zillion years for me until March 2 comes around. Until then we'll sure be spoiling Piri. Every time I go into a pet store now I am always coming out with a new toy for him. He doesn't really play with toys now but I still can't help it.

Today we have a guest dog coming for a one night stay and over the weekend we hope to get out a bit. It's supposed to be in the sixties. Can you believe that?